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By Sylvia Santamaria
UMAGANG Kay Ganda, the new
morning show of ABS-CBN, premiered yesterday with a refreshing
format, aside from welcoming familiar faces onboard.
As early as 5:15 in the morning,
the happy and well-rested faces of the new cast greeted the viewers
who woke up early to see what the reformatted show had to offer. We
were delighted to see Edu Manzano leading the pack of the new hosts
since he has always been knowledgeable, articulate and effortlessly
amusing. We were expecting to see some sparks on the air since the
show has also taken in Manzano’s rumored girlfriend Pinky Webb, a
formidable and well-loved news anchor for the station.
We are glad that some of our
favorites from the old show (Magandang Umaga Pilipinas) were
retained like Kim Atienza, the official weatherman for news and
public affairs. Atienza’s charm lies in the fact that he doesn’t
just report the weather forecast for the day but he also presents
many other interesting points of interests like nature and
pet-related topics.
Ogie Diaz is a natural comic and
he always has this connection with the masses so when he delivers
the features and the blind items, his viewers sometimes forget about
breakfast and stay glued to his segment.
Also retained were Anthony
Taberna, Bernadette Sembrano, Alex Santos and Winnie Cordero. The
new additions included Donita Rose, Rica Peralejo and Atom Araullo
and although the three showed first-day jitters, we are quite sure
that they will eventually warm up. The new show will have a live
audience daily. There may be times when people from a single
community or balikbayan or those with a particular surname will be
asked to join the studio audience. We just hope that the show will
not follow Wowowee in its practice of collecting dollars from these
balikbayan for giveaways.
When asked if the new format is
heavy on entertainment since most of the cast are actors and hosts,
News and Public Affairs head Maria Ressa said that the show will
always take the ‘balance’ factor into consideration.
“Crime and showbiz stories are
always going to be major segments of the show but it will not just
carry news stories and live studio discussions, it will also
introduce self-help segments and promote interaction with the
viewers by combining old and new media.”
She added, “We have three
goals: to inform, to entertain and to inspire. Our song says it all:
the morning sun will shine light on our collective dreams, and
we’ll make these dreams come true and change our society by facing
adversity and challenges together.”
We aren’t sure what will be the
next move for Julius Babao, Christine Bersola, Cheryl Cosim and Lui
Vilaruz, who were all replaced by the new cast.
Unang Hirit spearheads GMA
anniversary celebration
With the competition done with
its reformatting, GMA 7 is expected to reinvigorate its morning show
with more meat and merriment.
And it will be an extra special
week as Unang Hirit, which holds on to its claim as the number one
morning show, celebrates the 57th anniversary of GMA Network! The
best, the biggest and the sexiest Kapuso stars like Katrina Halili,
Alicia Mayer, Ehra Madrigal and the Sexbomb dancers will be the main
featured artists to jumpstart its loyal viewers.
Will there be a new host or
anchor for a new segment? That’s the beauty of competition, they
simply try to outdo each other and the viewers are the eventual
winners because we get the best of both worlds, that is, if we are
used to switching channels on our remote controls.
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